JUST WATCHED

Perry: I'll work hard for next 18 months

MUST WATCH

Story highlights

James Moore: Rick Perry says he won't run for governor again but was vague on future plans

Moore: Perry will run for president, even though his extremism is out of step

Perry will use remaining time in office to raise money, launch Super PAC, he says

Moore: He gave millions to corporations but has abysmal record on education, health care

In most of the old TV Westerns, there was a moment at the end where the cowboy rode away. He's delivered justice, empowered the townsfolk and ended the crisis. The good guy knows he will be needed elsewhere.

It's mythology, of course; the historical American West was bloody and brutal and often without honor. But there were still a lot of people who hoped the cowboy icon was precisely the self-image Texas Gov. Rick Perry was realizing as he took the stage to make an announcement about his "exciting future plans."

But this is not the scene where the cowboy rides away. It's a bit more like the one where he refuses to leave the saloon and has to be thrown out onto the street.

Which is why pundits tend to say Perry is hard to predict. But he's not. Since the day he switched political parties under the tutelage of Karl Rove almost a quarter century ago, Perry has been an extreme conservative who gave away hundreds of millions in taxpayer money to corporations. And when the tea party metastasized into Texas politics, he walked his conservatism over to the right edge of the flat earth.

His lust for guns and God and his hatred of abortion rightsand gay rights make him a strong Republican primary candidate among the activist voters, but an unlikely voice for most of America seeking a president in 2016.

JUST WATCHED

2012: Perry: In his own words

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

Showdown over abortion in Texas

MUST WATCH

Showdown over abortion in Texas01:41

No one should expect anything new out of Perry. He will keep traveling the country annoying other state leaders while talking about jobs in Texas and acting like he persuaded God to pour dinosaur wine into our soil and then seduced California tech companies into moving where real estate and labor are less expensive. Texas has always been a job engine because of natural resources, weather and people, not politicians.

The governor will keep arguing against Obamacare regardless of the fact it insures 3 million more Texans and reduces the uninsured overall to 12%. Don't expect him to detail, either, that his state is 50th in per capita spending on health care, 51st in benefits for the Women, Infants and Children program, and, even though he is pushing abortion restrictions, Perry will certainly not let anyone know he presides over a state ranked 50th in the percentage of women receiving prenatal care in their first trimesters.

And if his leadership has been so inspiring, why is it that Texas is also last in the percentage of the voting age population that actually votes?

Instead, look for Perry to associate more publicly with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative state think tank founded by one of his biggest donors. He'll try to gin up a little gravitas on issues, work on keeping three items in his head at one time, and launch a Super PAC that he can use to support conservative candidates in 2014, and then call upon them for returned favors when he runs in 2016.

The two Super PACs associated with his previous presidential stumble have about $500,000 already, and Perry has been consistently skilled at leveraging the governor's office to raise cash for his political fantasies.